Fairlight

There are two services in our churches… this Sunday, March 17, with Parish Communion at St Andrew’s at 10.30 am, and Evening Prayer at St Peter’s at 4.00 pm, and I hope and expect you’re getting well used to that early evening timing by now!

At MOPP today… you can enjoy a Cottage Pie and Eve’s pudding followed by this week’s entertainment in the hands of the ever-popular Keith Osborne. As many of you will know, Keith is a regular at MOPP, he is guaranteed, as always, to be good fun and very entertaining.

MOPP meets at the village hall at 10 am each Friday (but not Christmas Day) at the very reasonable cost of £5. Transport can always be arranged if needed. For more information phone Sheila on 01304 219767 or mobile 07774 573086.

The Bowls Club… will be having their Coffee Morning tomorrow in the village hall from 10 am to 12 noon. You may already have read about this popular annual event here in our Voice, but you may have missed it on the boards and poles in the village, as there has been an outbreak of poster removal, hopefully not being done maliciously. This has happened before, and is not pleasant. To thwart the perpetrators, turn up tomorrow in your hundreds, enjoy the stalls, the refreshments – and the bingo!

Players’ Supper success… The Players’ latest special event with supper was held last Friday, when Ann Rachlin, a consummate and vastly experienced speaker, gave an audio-visual presentation entitled ‘Edy was a Lady’, which is also the title of the book she has published about Edith ‘Edy’ Craig, the daughter of renowned actress Ellen Terry. Not only did Edy record many detailed memoirs of her famous mother, but her expertise in and invaluable contributions to many aspects of the world of theatre were recounted. After half of Ann’s talk, a super supper was enjoyed, to be followed by extremely rare footage of early, silent, acting

A Players’ puzzle… in the course of Ann Rachlin’s talk, she revealed that, only last week she had unearthed details of a poster concerning a course that Edy Craig would be running ‘from August 1 to 14’ in an unspecified year, to teach Stage Lighting, and Make-up to students, to take place in Fairlight Barn Theatre, Waites Lane. Though there were several aficionados present with a keen interest in the history of the village, no one appeared to have ever heard of the Barn Theatre, but it was supposed by several that the barn in question was probably opposite Old Waites Farmhouse, which is just in Shepherds Way, now a splendid ‘barn conversion’ private property. If you know and can confirm, or offer an alternative, please let us know. It is surmised that date may have been 1928, when the population of the village was much, much lower than the almost 1,800 it is now. Who could the students have been – a part of some sort of summer school arrangement? Again, perhaps someone out there has heard what went on, and under whose auspices. Do get in touch!

The Tuesday Ladies Club… meets next week for Mr G Albon’s talk on ‘The Land that inspired Sibelius’. It looks as if Fairlight will give him an appropriate weather background for what promises to be an interesting talk. It commences at 2.15 pm. Visitors will be welcome; the charge is only £2 per head.

Mallydams tomorrow… with a full day from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm for Weaving Animals from Hedgerow Materials, and using hazel, dogwood and willow, you will be able to make your own unique sculpture to take home. Woodland artist Martin Brockman will be leading the day, and all materials and tools will be provided. The cost of the day is £50, and the workshop is primarily designed for adults, though may go along and help a paying adult for nothing. Booking is essential, and to do so, or to get more details, go to [email protected].

Players’ play coming soon… and, inevitably, comes the usual request for any assistance that residents can offer. As the show, ‘Happy as a Sandbag’, tells the story of the Second World War in sketches and songs, any authentic items from those war years would be more than appreciated, and very carefully looked after. What they most need at the moment are four folding wooden chairs of the sort found in countless halls fifty years ago, until they were superseded by all manner of plastic models. They would be ideal for the show from the point of view of date, and convenience as they fold easily by pulling the seat upwards. If you can help, please call Keith on 813631.

We’ll weather the weather… Fairlight news is as thin on the ground this week as the snow is thick. Battery Hill closed, a tree down; seldom does one see it snow so incessantly for such a lengthy period of time. At least we know what it is like before we set out on a trip of any length. In the bad old days you could drive home quite normally on an apparently clear road surface, pull into your drive and get out of the car – and fall flat on your face on a sheet of ice. Nowadays, gritting seems much better organised, with the lorries out at all hours earlier in the year at the slightest hint of frost – that is until this current downfall, when the gritters have been conspicuous only by their absence prior to the main event. This was particularly hard to understand given that every inhabitant of Great Britain knew what was coming, and when, except those responsible for sending out the gritters.

It must be said that both Cllr Rev Val Gibbs and email king Trevor Lewing have kept up a constant stream of highly useful, if a bit intimidating, rolling road news to ensure we all know the up-to-the-minute state of play with the weather and roads, for which relief much thanks.